Monday, December 08, 2008

French Macarons

I have love hate relationship with macarons. I made it a few times and it never turns out right. Some came out flat as pancakes; some cracks on the top and a few times it turn out like cookies. I told myself that I will never bake it again until I take some lesson for it until I saw it at Beachlover blog. She told me she used Tartelette recipe with success.

Thanks to Tartelette and her perfect recipe that I finally able to make a near perfect macarons. Making macarons need time and patience. There is no short cuts and its so rewarding when the perfect skirting (refer as feet) appears while baking. I was jumping with joy that I finally got it right!! It’s not the best looking ones but it was pretty good to me. I am not sure why some of them cracked and some of them were perfect. I need improved on my piping and get the size more evenly. I promised Carlos that I will bake more for him to take to the office. So I will be baking it again this week.

1. For the whites: the day before (24hrs), separate your eggs and store the whites at room temperature in a covered container. If you want to use 48hrs (or more) egg whites, you can store them in the fridge.
2. In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites to a foam, gradually add the sugar until you obtain a glossy meringue. Do not over beat your meringue or it will be too dry.
3. Combine the almonds, powdered sugar in a food processor and give them a good pulse until the nuts are finely ground. Pass through a sieve. Add them to the meringue, give it a quick fold to break some of the air and then fold carefully until you obtain a batter that flows like magma or a thick ribbon.
4. The whole process should not take more than 50 strokes. Test a small amount on a plate: if the tops flattens on its own you are good to go. If there is a small beak, give the batter a couple of turns.
5. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip (I used Wilton tip 12) with the batter and pipe small rounds (1.5 inches in diameter) onto parchment paper lined baking sheets.
6. Preheat the oven to 300F. Let the macarons sit out for 30 minutes to an hour to harden their shells a bit and bake for 15-20 minutes, depending on their size. Let cool.

Note from Tartelette :If you have trouble removing the shells, pour a couple of drops of water under the parchment paper while the sheet is still a bit warm and the macarons will lift up more easily do to the moisture.
Don't let them sit there in it too long or they will become soggy. Once baked and if you are not using them right away, store them in an airtight container out of the fridge for a couple of days or in the freezer.

Note : I didn't make any filling for these macarons and I just used some Dulce De Leche which I find it was way too sweet.

You did fantastic! When your macarons don't cook the same even though they are on the same sheet is most often due to an uneven heating oven. Each oven has its hot spots and does not distribute the heat evenly. One thing you can so is to either rotate the baking sheets when you get the feet going or to place a second baking sheet underneath the one with the mac to distribute the heat more evenly. Also, the closer they are to the bottom of the oven, the more uneven they bake. That's why in a home oven, it is better to have them 2/3 of the way up and one sheet at a time.Hope all of this helps :)

WOW just beautiful. I have till now neve rhad the courage to make them.This looks so beautiful.I think one day i have to gather up the courage and make these wonderufl macroons too.Love the colour too.

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About Me

I was born and raised in Malaysia and now live in Northern California, USA with my wonderful husband Carlos. I love to bake and cook. It is very relaxing and I find my creativity flowing in the kitchen. I creates this blog to record all my cooking and baking adventures and also share my tested recipes with you.
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